Rotary pump



K. F. EHRLICH July 7, 1964 ROTARY PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 27, 1959 FIG.4.

FIG.5.

as INVENTOR KARL E EHRLICH 36 ATTORNEY? y 7, 1964 K. F. EHRLICH 3,139,833

ROTARY PUMP Filed July 27, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q Q a N w w 1 (D m w J! m INVENTOR KARL F EHRLIOH ATTORNEYS K. F. EHRLICH July 7, 1964 ROTARY PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 27, 1959 FIG. 7.

FIG. 6.

INVENTOR KARL F. EHRLICH M d M147 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,139,833 ROTARY PUMP Karl F. Ehrlich, Washington, D.C. (1 20. Box 74, Fort Bragg, NC.) Filed July 27, 1959, Ser. No. 829,713 4 Claims. (Cl. 103--120) This invention relates to a rotary pump of the variable capacity type.

It is an object of this invention to provide a rotary pump including means for'positively regulating fluid flow over a wide volume range at high or low pressure.

Another object is to provide a rotary pump comprising an eccentric rotor requiring no pistons, vanes, or other extraneous members for moving the fluid from the inlet to the outlet port of the pump.

Other objects are to provide a rotary pump of the character described including movable wall means interposed between the inlet and outlet ports, said wall means positively contacting, and moving vertically in synchronism with, the eccentric rotor; to provide a pump, the capacity of which is regulated by longitudinal adjustment of a rotor housing interposed between the rotor and pump housing; and to provide a rotary pump which may be economically manufactured, requiring a minimum of readily machined and assembled parts.

Other objects will be manifest from a consideration of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a rotary pump constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional View taken along the line 66 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view similar to FIG. 6, taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows, showing the rotor and connected parts in their upper limit of movement;

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional View taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the various positions of contact of the rotor with the movable wall means forming a part of the present invention.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings, the pump of the present invention includes a pump housing 11 of cylindrical shape having at one end a head plate 12 secured to the housing by suitable means 13. Head plate 12 is provided with a central cylindrical extension 14 extending inwardly into the pump housing and provided with an axial bore through which a rotor shaft 15 passes. A pulley or other suitable driving means 16 is fixed to the outer terminal of shaft 15 to which any suitable power means is operatively connected for rotating the shaft. As shown to advantage in FIGS. 2 and 4, shaft 15 is provided with a longitudinal keyway 17 adapted to receive a portion of a key 18, the remaining part of the key being adapted for insertion in a like keyway in the wall defining an eccentric longitudinal bore in a cylindrical eccentric rotor 19 through which rotor shaft 15 passes. This effects rotation of rotor 19 with shaft 15. Beyond rotor 19 shaft 15 passes through a bore in a cylindrical extension 20 of a head plate 21 affixed to the free end of pump housing 11, which extension is of similar size as, and in abutting relation with, rotor 19. A bevel gear 22 is aflixed to said free end of shaft 15 beyond head plate 21 3,139,833 Patented July 7, 1964 for purposes which will hereinafter be more fully set out.

A rotor housing 23 is mounted between pump housing 11 and rotor 19. It will be noted, from FIG. 2, that rotor housing 23 is bored out eccentrically to receive rotor 19, to permit rotation of the rotor housing with the rotor upon actuation of shaft 15. There is further provided a stator 24 having a flange 25 in abutting relation with one end of rotor housing 23. Stator 24 and rotor housing 23 are maintained in contiguous relation by arcuate plates 26 and 27 fitted between rotor 19 and stator 24, the plates being spaced as indicated at 28 to facilitate assembly. Plates 26 and 27 are provided with peripheral flanges 26' and 27', respectively, adapted for locking engagement with flange 25 of stator 24. Bolts 29 and 30 fix plates 26 and 27 to rotor housing 23 (see FIG. 4).

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 5, it will be seen that at a point proximate rotor 19, pump housing 11 is provided with an inlet port 31 flared at its inner end, as indicated at 32, to provide a substantially elliptical funnel opening. In spaced relation to said inlet port is a like outlet port 33 having a similar flared opening 34 at its inner end. Ports 31 and 33 are separated by pump housing head extension 20 which extends inwardly into uniplanar relationship with each opening 32 and 34 and a terminal of rotor 19. Ports 31 and 33 are extended through a gear housing 35, as indicated at 31' and 33'. Gear housing 35 is connected to pump housing 11 by bolts 36 which also pass through head plate 21 to secure the latter to the pump housing. The upper portion of gear housing 35 is bolted at 36 to an auxiliary housing 38 mounted superjacent pump housing 11 and fixed thereto by any suitable means.

Gear housing 35 is provided with a bearing surface through which a vertical shaft 35 extends, the latter being provided with a lower bevel gear 39 in operative engagement with bevel gear 22 of shaft 15. The upper terminal of shaft 35 is also provided with a bevel gear 39' in mating engagement with a bevel gear 39 affixed to one terminal of a driven shaft 40, which extends through one end of auxiliary housing 38. The opposite end of the driven shaft is journaled in a suitable bearing 41 in a head plate 42 secured to the opposite end of the housing. Bevel gears 22, 39, 39 and 39 are of like size and shaft 40 and shaft 15 are of the same diameter to effect rotation of shaft 40 of auxiliary housing 38 at the same speed as shaft 15 of the pump housing for reasons which will be hereinafter more fully apparent.

In connection with shaft 40, there is provided a movable wall or obstruction assembly 43 interposed between inlet port 31 and outlet port 33 and extending inwardly beyond flared openings 32 and 34. Assembly 43 comprises a substantially flat wall member 44 of rectangular shape, the lower portion of which passes through a slot 45 in stator 24. The lower terminal of member 44 is rounded at 46 to afford optimum contact with rotor 19 during its cycle of operation.

A substantially H-shaped section 47 is stamped out of the. central portion of member 44, adjacentthe lateral extremities of which H-shaped portion, member 44 is thickened to provide a pair of hub members 48 having central elongated bores through which shaft 40 passes. A sleeve 49 is inserted in the central portion of H-shaped section 47 between hubs 48, 48, said sleeve being keyed to. shaft 40 by suitable key means 50. The horizontal portion of H-shaped section 47 is enlarged to provide an opening of substantial height to permit vertical movement of member 44 with respect to shaft 40 from its upper to its lower limit. In each of the vertical portions of H-shaped section 47 there is positioned a rotor assembly 51 adapted to effect vertical movement of member 44. Each rotor assembly 51 comprises a rotor 52 eccentrically mounted on sleeve 49 and fixed thereto by keys 53'. A stator 54' is positioned in spaced relation to rotor 52 and a ball bearing race assembly 55 is interposed between the rotor and stator to effect rotation of the former with respect to the latter. Each stator 54 is provided with an car 56 at a point adjacent the lower terminal of said assembly, said ear being adapted to receive a pin 57 which fixes said stator to member 44. By this structure, rotation of rotor 52 by shaft 40 results in vertical movement of stator 54 with a corresponding vertical movement of connected wall member 44, the upper extremity of said member traveling in a guide slot 58 formed in the upper portion of auxiliary housing 38. Parts of the present invention are so designed that rotor 19 and member 44 move upwardly in synchronism and the lower terminal of member 44 is always in positive contact with rotor 19 during the stages of the operational cycle depicted in FIG. 9. This positively precludes seepage between inlet port 31 and outlet port 33.

It is also within the contemplation of the present invention to provide means for moving interconnected rotor housing 23, stator 24, and member 44 longitudinally with respect to pump housing 11 and rotor 19 in order to vary the capacity of the pump. For this purpose, there is provided a hydraulic assembly including an oil reservoir 59 formed by the cavity in pump housing 11 between head plate 12 and rotor housing 23 A second oil reservoir 60 is formed in a hollowed out section of rotor housing 23 leaving a wall 23 between the two reservoirs. A sealing ring is indicated at 61. For feeding the hydraulic fluid to reservoir 60, head plate extension 14 is provided with a duct 62 having a flared mouth 63 leading to reservoir 69. The hydraulic fluid is fed to duct 62 by a supply pipe 64, in which pipe is a conventional distributing valve 65 connected to any suitable hydraulic pump and supply means. Hydraulic fluid is admitted to reservoir 59 through a duct 66 in head plate 12, the fluid being fed to duct 66 through a supply pipe 67. Pipe 67 is likewise connected to a suitable distributing valve 68 which in turn is in operative engagement with the hydraulic pump and supply means.

In use of the present pump, the hydraulic means is first actuated to move rotor housing 23 and connected stator 24 longitudinally of pump housing 11 to effect desired positioning of said rotor housing 23 with respect to rotor 19 and inlet and outlet ports 31 and 33. Movement of stator 24 in turn effects a corresponding longitudinal relocation of member 44 along shaft 40 by virtue of the extension of said member through slot 45 in the stator. Positive regulation of the pumps capacity may, therefore, be made by operation of the hydraulic assembly.

Upon actuation of pulley wheel 16 by any suitable power source, rotation of shaft 15 is effected with re sultant rotation of connected rotor 19 and rotor housing 23. This effects sweeping engagement of the rotor with the peripheral wall of stator 24, that portion of the bore of the stator between the rotor, rotor housing and end wall of the pump housing constituting the pumping chamber. Arcuate plates 26 and 27 rotate with rotor housing 23, but stator 24 remains fixed. Rotation of shaft 15 also causes rotation of shaft 40 through gears 22, 39, 39 and 39". Sleeve 49 is thereby rotated and in turn effects rotation of interconnected rotors 52 of rotor assemblies 51.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, it will be seen that rotors 19 and 52 rotate synchronously so that the two reach the upper and lower limits in their respective housings simultaneously. Consequently, member 44, by virtue of its connection to stator 54, moves vertically in response to the eccentric rotation of rotor 52 with the result that the lower terminal 46 of said member always remains in positive contact with the outer periphery of rotor 19 (see FIG. 9).

As shown to advantage in FIGS. 6 and 7, flared funneled openings 32 and 34 of ports 31 and 33 together are of crescent shape, the lower arc-like surface being uniplanar with the upper peripheral wall of rotor 19 when the latter is in its lowermost position (see FIG. 6). Also, when rotor 19 is in its uppermost position in housing 11, the upper portion of the rotor completely covers openings 32 and 34. This reduces the opening of the inlet and outlet ports in direct proportion to the volume of flow therethrough.

It will be apparent from the description of the operation that the present pump is designed to deliver a pulsating fluid flow. In the event that continuous flow is desired, two pumps may be connected in tandem, the opera tional cycle of the pumps being reversed so that when fluid is flowing into one pump, fluid is being expelled by the other pump and vice versa.

With the device of the present invention, not only may the capacity of the pump be varied, but also, by virtue of the design of the pump, fluids may be delivered under varying pressures, at any selected volume flow, by increasing the speed of rotation of shaft 15. This affords complete flexibility of volume and pressures to adjust to the capacity or efliciency of the driving mechanism. The use of an eccentric rotor and connected parts, forming a part of the present invention, enables a large volume of fluid to be pumped, if desired. The elimination of pistons, vanes, or other means, conventionally employed for forcing the fluid through the pum effects a positive movement of fluid from the pump and enables the present device to be used for high pressure pumping where these conventional pump members fail.

It will also be noted, from a consideration of the present invention, that a minimum number of parts are required, which parts are not intricate but may be readily machined and easily assembled. Consequently, the pump of the present invention may be economically manufactured.

While I have herein shown and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A rotary pump comprising a cylindrical pump housing having a central bore, head plates for closing the ends of said pump housing, one of said head plates having inlet and outlet ports extending therethrough in communication with the central bore, a rotor shaft extending through said pump housing, a rotor housing within the central bore of said pump housing, said rotor housing having a longitudinal eccentric bore through which said rotor shaft passes, a rotor eccentrically fixed to said rotor shaft and lying partially within the eccentric bore of said rotor housing proximate the inlet and outlet ports,

7 a stator having a longitudinal slot mounted within the pump housing, one end of said stator being connected to said rotor housing, the stator being provided with a central bore in communication with said inlet and outlet ports, into which bore a portion of said rotor extends, that portion of the central bore of the stator between the adjacent head plates having inlet and outlet ports, the rotor housing and the rotor forming a pumping chamber, means for rotating said rotor shaft, rotor housing and rotor to effect sweeping engagement of the latter with the peripheral wall of the stator, a movable wall member extending through the longitudinal slot in said stator and into the pumping chamber between the inlet and outlet ports, the lower terminal of said movable wall member being in constant engagement with the outer perphery of said rotor, and means connected to said wall member independent of said rotor for moving said wall member vertically in synchronism with said rotor.

2. The rotary pump of claim 1 with the addition of power means for moving said rotor housing, stator and movable Wall member longitudinally of said pump housing in order to vary the capacity of the pump.

3. The rotary pump of claim 2, wherein said rotor housing, stator and movable wall member are interconnected and said power means includes a hydraulic assembly comprising an oil reservoir formed by the central bore of said pump housing between one of said head plates and said rotor housing, a second oil reservoir within the bore of said rotor housing, leaving a rotor housing wall between said reservoirs, ducts in said pump housing in communication with said first and second reservoirs, hydraulic pump and supply means in communication with said ducts, and distributing means connected with said hydraulic pump and supply means for selectively feeding hydraulic fluid to said first and second reservoirs, to efiect longitudinal movement of said interconnected rotor housing, stator and movable wall member.

4. The rotary fluid pump of claim 1, wherein said movable wall member is provided with a bore extending transversely of the wall member parallel to the lower terminal thereof, a driven shaft extending through the bore of the wall member, means connecting the rotor shaft and driven shaft for rotating the later synchronously with the former, spaced hub members on said wall member through which the driven shaft passes, said hub members having elongated openings through which said driven shaft passes, sleeve means fixed to said driven shaft between said hub members, a second rotor eccentrically mounted on, and fixed to, said sleeve means, a second stator in spaced relation to said second rotor, means connecting said second stator to said movable wall member, and bearing means between said second rotor and stator for permitting rotation of the former with respect to the latter, so that rotation of said driven shaft and second rotor moves said wall member vertically.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 767,442 Robinson Aug. 16, 1904 815,522 Fraser Mar. 20, 1906 1,334,906 Keith Mar. 23, 1920 1,692,639 Elsner Nov. 20, 1928 1,827,088 Jaworowski Oct. 13, 1931 2,330,565 Eckart Sept. 28, 1943 2,758,546 Gillette Aug. 14, 1956 2,840,991 Nisbet July 1, 1958 2,925,779 Pelladeau Feb. 23, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 219,650 Great Britain Feb. 12, 1925 318,886 Great Britain Oct. 13, 1932 787,779 France July 16, 1935 197,943 Switzerland Jan. 2, 1939 

1. A ROTARY PUMP COMPRISING A CYLINDRICAL PUMP HOUSING HAVING A CENTRAL BORE, HEAD PLATES FOR CLOSING THE ENDS OF SAID PUMP HOUSING, ONE OF SAID HEAD PLATES HAVING INLET AND OUTLET PORTS EXTENDING THERETHROUGH IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE CENTRAL BORE, A ROTOR SHAFT EXTENDING THROUGH SAID PUMP HOUSING, A ROTOR HOUSING WITHIN THE CENTRAL BORE OF SAID PUMP HOUSING, SAID ROTOR HOUSING HAVING A LONGITUDINAL ECCENTRIC BORE THROUGH WHICH SAID ROTOR SHAFT PASSES, A ROTOR ECCENTRICALLY FIXED TO SAID ROTOR SHAFT AND LYING PARTIALLY WITHIN THE ECCENTRIC BORE OF SAID ROTOR HOUSING PROXIMATE THE INLET AND OUTLET PORTS, A STATOR HAVING A LONGITUDINAL SLOT MOUNTED WITHIN THE PUMP HOUSING, ONE END OF SAID STATOR BEING CONNECTED TO SAID ROTOR HOUSING, THE STATOR BEING PROVIDED WITH A CENTRAL BORE IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID INLET AND OUTLET PORTS, INTO WHICH BORE A PORTION OF SAID ROTOR EXTENDS, THAT PORTION OF THE CENTRAL BORE OF THE STATOR BETWEEN THE ADJACENT HEAD PLATES HAVING INLET AND OUTLET PORTS, THE ROTOR HOUSING AND THE ROTOR FORMING A PUMPING CHAMBER, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ROTOR SHAFT, ROTOR HOUSING AND ROTOR TO EFFECT SWEEPING ENGAGEMENT OF THE LATTER WITH THE PERIPHERAL WALL OF THE STATOR, A MOVABLE WALL MEMBER EXTENDING THROUGH THE LONGITUDINAL SLOT IN SAID STATOR AND INTO THE PUMPING CHAMBER BETWEEN THE INLET AND OUTLET PORTS, THE LOWER TERMINAL OF SAID MOVABLE WALL MEMBER BEING IN CONSTANT ENGAGEMENT WITH THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF SAID ROTOR, AND MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID WALL MEMBER INDEPENDENT OF SAID ROTOR FOR MOVING SAID WALL MEMBER VERTICALLY IN SYNCHRONISM WITH SAID ROTOR. 